One of my goals while I am here in Spain is to visit all
eight provinces of Andalusia. So far I
have hit: Seville, Málaga, Córdoba, Cádiz, Granada, and now, Jaén. I traveled with a group of friends to Jaen
during Semana Santa (“holy week”) to camp in the Sierra Cazorla, a set of mountains
in the northeast of Andalusia. There
were fourteen of us traveling with a program called Outdoor Andalusia which is
run by my friend Christian. Outdoor Andalusia
plans weekend trips for study abroad students who want to see the natural
beauty of southern Spain through outdoor activities like hiking. Our trip to Jaen included, canyoning, hiking,
zip-lining, rappelling, and a night of camping.
Needless to say, I was very excited to be spending time outside doing some
things that I love.
We left rainy Seville early Saturday morning for the sunny campgrounds
of Cazorla. The weather forecast looked
promising in Jaen and we were happy to be escaping the rain! After a two hour bus ride, we were at the
campgrounds ready to set up the tents and hungry for some lunch. The boys on the trip had picked up some meat
and bread for bocadillos (“sandwiches”) to keep us full until dinnertime. The sandwiches were HUGE!
We spent the afternoon canyoning down the Guadalquivir, the
river that starts in Jaen and runs through Seville. Canyoning is something I had never tried
before but it was a blast. We were with
two professionals who guided us down the river by way of waterfalls and cliff
jumps. It was a lot of fun but not
something I would do without a guide.
After canyoning we were very tired and headed back to the
campgrounds to have some dinner. It was
Celeste’s birthday at midnight, so we surprised her with a cake and s’mores!
We woke up early Sunday morning to meet with the same tour
guides for a hike through the mountains.
It was a beautiful day and I was so happy to be spending time outside of
the city in the mountains. We hiked up
to a peak where we zip-lined across a canyon.
Later on, we hiked down to another peak to rappel. The rappel was incredible because the views
were fantastic.
Fresh water from the start of the Guadalquivir River! |
We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking down the mountain
back to the center of Cazorla. By the
end of the day we were all exhausted and excited to sleep during the car
ride. Jaen is an enjoyable part of
Andalusia with a lot of natural beauty.
I am so lucky to have visited it.
Hi! I love your blog and your study abroad experience. I'd like to inform you about an intersting project... Could I have your contact?
ReplyDeleteHi Mike!
DeleteYou should be able to view my email address on my homepage but if not it is: kcondon1@friars.providence.edu
Thanks!